It was Ferrari by a KERS

Ferrari did in fact win the race though it might be hard to tell with all the excitement about Giancarlo Fisichella's great second place.

In fact both Fisichella and Raikkonen drove great races at Spa, neither making any mistakes. Fisichella was simply "in the zone" the whole week end, his team mate Sutil was nowhere so it was not simply the case of the team bolting on a trick new aero bit.

Raikkonen used KERS to perfection and made no errors, enough to just stay ahead to the end. You will inevitably read about how "he did not deserve the win because he cheated on the first lap....yada yada". Rational people will agree with David Coulthard's view that going out wide at the La Source hairpin is not really much of an advantage at all as you pick up all sorts of crap on your tires. Going out wide does get you out of traffic but this has been done by drivers on the start of the Belgian GP for as long as I can remember ( In fact Jenson Button did precisely the same thing yet not a word was said) and it surely is something discussed with the stewards before the race.

As most of the race was decided on the first lap, let's look at some on board shots of the start. Note the absolutely demon start Barrichello had after he finally got going, that is an amazing piece of driving!

Hamilton also had a bad start. He was completely without fault in the accident that took him out and from the video it seems quite clear that it was not Jenson Button's fault either, Grojean had his wheel locked and was going straight when he collided with the BrawnGP. The first lap also took out Trulli and, as it turned out, Alonso who came out of the first corner with a front left damaged enough for the team not to be able to properly change the tire later on.

A final word about Webber, not sure where he was at but one could argue he made some dodgy blocking moves during the race, on Vettel during the first lap and later on Nakajima. Maybe he's channeling Black Jack Brabham!

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium;
44 laps; 308.052km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  1h23:50.995
 2.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     0.939
 3.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     3.875
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +     9.966
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    11.276
 6.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    32.763
 7.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    35.461
 8.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    36.208
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    36.959
10.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    41.490
11.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +    42.636
12.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    46.106
13.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    54.241
14.  Badoer        Ferrari               (B)  +  1:38.177

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:47.263

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Alonso        Renault               (B)    27
Trulli        Toyota                (B)    22
Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)    1
Grosjean      Renault               (B)    1
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)    1
Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 12:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Button        72        1.  Brawn-Mercedes        128
 2.  Barrichello   56        2.  Red Bull-Renault      104.5
 3.  Vettel        53        3.  Ferrari                56
 4.  Webber        51.5      4.  McLaren-Mercedes       44
 5.  Raikkonen     34        5.  Toyota                 38.5
 6.  Rosberg       30.5      6.  Williams-Toyota        30.5
 7.  Hamilton      27        7.  BMW Sauber             18
 8.  Trulli        22.5      8.  Renault                16
 9.  Massa         22        9.  Force India-Mercedes    8
10.  Kovalainen    17       10.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari      5
11.  Glock         16       
12.  Alonso        16       
13.  Heidfeld      10       
14.  Kubica         8       
15.  Fisichella     8       
16.  Buemi          3       
17.  Bourdais       2       
       
All timing unofficial

Home

--> READ MORE

Hell Hath No Fury as a Piquet Scorned

Nelson Piquet Jr. did promise revenge on Flavio Briatore and Renault after his recent mid season firing and today, through the Brazilian Network Globo, allegations were made that he had been ordered to crash his car intentionally at last year's SIngapore GP in order to help Alonso who had just pitted before the rest of the field and thus gained a decisive advantage and a win. This in exchange for a contract for the current season.

Allegations are that there is proof of Flavio's and Renault's conspiracy but, frankly, Piquet's driving record is working against him on this one. One is hard pressed to believe Piquet could hold the car on the road consistently much less hold clandestine contract negotiation on the radio during a race. If this does turn out to be a true story ( and there should be plenty of onboard telemetry, radio transmissions and video to make this an open and shut case in about 15 minutes) it is doubly suicidal for the Brazilian, if it's pathetic for a team to be so desperate as to order a driver to crash, it is even more pathetic for that driver to be so desperate as to accept the proposition. Chances are both would be banned for life.





And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

Go Green Fast: BMW changes the game.

We've said before that the move towards greener cars could represent a great opportunity for enthusiasts because the only logical solution to performance and efficiency would be found in weight savings. Let's discuss whether 3050 lbs constitutes lightweight another time, what BMW has come up with is the first exciting hybrid in history.

Forget Tesla's Elise copy and Fisker's Joker mouthed car, visually this concept from BMW manages to both pay homage to some classic concept cars of the past while simultaneously looking like it would not be out of place in Daniel Simon's Cosmic Motors. Of course it remains to be seen if BMW can deliver on the car's ample promises but, as a concept, the "gamechanger" adjective seems to me is more appropriate for this car than to any plug in only utility vehicle.




BMW's decision to drop out of F1 becomes more clear now. F1 has moved away from KERS for 2010 and this concept has obviously been in the works for a long time. BMW had been frustrated once before when the series moved to v8's right when BMW was launching their "formula 1 inspired" V10 engines.

So we celebrate this exciting new car, I'm ready to go green....fast!

( you can read all about the concept car's specs on just about any auto web site...let me suggest THIS ONE)




Home

--> READ MORE

Horse Meat Vindaloo!

...that must be what Fisichella had for breakfast this morning. Dangle the possibility of even a temporary Ferrari drive in front of someone and look what happens!

I'm sure it escaped no one that the top three places on the grid went to three drivers fighting for their place in Formula 1 next season, Trulli and Heidfeld and three teams with uncertain futures.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the last time two Italians qualified on the front row of a Grand Prix was at the 1953 French Grand Prix when Alberto Ascari was on pole in a Ferrari 500 next to Felice Bonetto in a Maserati. Seems incredible, any historians out there?

Meanwhile, Button seems to have totally crumbled under pressure, despite his protestations to the contrary. Getting shellacked by Barrichello in the same car does not look too good for a potential champion.

The Mclarens are in trouble on a track with long fast corners but the real surprise is Red Bull who must be concerned about engines blowing up.

Raikkonen looks pretty racy, it will be interesting to see the qualifying weights later.

Check out Fisichella and Force India's historic lap.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2        Q3      
1.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:45.102  1:44.667  1:46.308
2.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:45.140  1:44.503  1:46.395
3.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:45.566  1:44.709  1:46.500
4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:45.237  1:44.834  1:46.513
5.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:45.655  1:44.557  1:46.586
6.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:45.579  1:44.953  1:46.633
7.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:45.450  1:44.877  1:46.677
8.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:45.372  1:44.592  1:46.761
9.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:45.350  1:44.924  1:46.788
10.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:45.486  1:45.047  1:47.362
11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:45.486  1:45.119
12.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:45.239  1:45.122
13.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:45.767  1:45.136
14.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:45.707  1:45.251
15.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:45.761  1:45.259
16.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:45.705
17.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:45.951
18.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:46.032
19.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:46.307
20.  Badoer       Ferrari               (B)  1:46.359

All Timing Unofficial

Here are the weights, Force India is running light but so are Glock and Kubica, Barrichello is even lighter. Trulli, Raikkonen, Heidfeld and Webber are on the same strategy while Rosberg and Vettel are running heavy.

Pos  Driver                             Weight (kg)
 1.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  648.0           
 2.  Trulli       Toyota                656.5           
 3.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            655.0           
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        644.5           
 5.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            649.0           
 6.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               655.0           
 7.  Glock        Toyota                648.5           
 8.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      662.5           
 9.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      658.0           
10.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       670.0           
11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  678.5*          
12.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      693.5*          
13.  Alonso       Renault               684.4*          
14.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        694.2*          
15.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      697.0*          
16.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    685.0*          
17.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    704.5*          
18.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       706.1*          
19.  Grosjean     Renault               704.7*          
20.  Badoer       Ferrari               691.5*          
                                                        
* declared weight

And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

Bump Draft Summit

The Axis spec e30 division was at Summit Point for the NASA Mid-Atlantic race and our own Fearless Freep sent us this report from Day 2:

Day 2 produced another P4 quali result and a P6 finish out of 14 cars for Pete Thibault and Team Axis.

Robert Allen was on pole followed by Skip Bennet, followed by Johnny Allen and then Pete. Behind Pete was "The Hedgehog," Chris Cobetto and the rest of the pack.

Pete got a good start but was immediately out-powered by Cobetto who passed him before Turn 3. During the race, Pete suffered contact from behind when in Turn 1 his car slipped out of gear and Carter Hunt popped him from behind. Carter's car took the real damage and its hood release was triggered but they both soldiered on.

The next moment of fun came when Pete got into an argument with his ABS computer and the ABS won. Pete sailed off Turn 5. He reentered the track behind Carter, only loosing the one place. As the middle-of-class cars, Pete and Carter then joined forces and began to catch the front pack, using a good bumpdraft technique from about 6 seconds behind Robert Grace. They closed the gap somewhat as lap traffic and tire wear came into play (Pete's RA1 pressures were perfect thanks to help from a well knows ALMS team which shall remain anonymous), but the two ran out of race. After pushing Hunt around helpfully, Pete took a superb run through T10 and passed Carter at the checker flag for 6th place.

#343 Driver Quote, Peter "It Wasn't My Fault, Don't Call Me Fat, Stand Back And Let Me Fix It" Thibault:

"I had an excellent car today, better than yesterday thanks to fresh Toyos and some alignment tuning. Had I been able to keep it on the track, I'd have been fighting for podiums both days."

#343 Acting Crew Chief, Fearless "Why The Hell Am I Not Racing" Freep:

"I gave Peter a good car both days and helped him strap his fat belly in both days. Photos of Justin's sister were strategically placed in the cockpit and may have caused the offroad excursions... We'll revisit the cockpit photo strategy before the next race. My biggest challenge of the weekend was when I had to get us packed up and out of West Virginia as quickly as possible so the stewards couldn't find #343. My work here is done."

Videos from Thibault's and Robert Allen's cars are after the JUMP

--> READ MORE

Once upon a time at Spa...

the guard rails were made of barbed wire and were meant to keep the cows off the road...






Home
--> READ MORE

What is Rally?

Frankly, after the last few seasons, it does need to be spelled out. In any case, here are some pretty pictures direct from the WRC...





And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

Valencia Wrap.

Rather than the usual summary, I though readers might find the BBC's post race show interesting for a change.

I will refrain from commenting on Luca Badoer's performance, it would be like shooting on the Red Cross, suffice it it to say that I never thought I would see a race driver willingly give up a position while still in pit lane...

The race, amid the picturesque Valencia shipping container facility, was much less exciting than reports would have you believe especially as we were robbed of a potential exciting finish when Mclaren threw away Hamilton's first place with a botched pit stop. Mclaren are, bizarrely, spinning it as if the mistake did not make any difference. I don't think anyone is buying their story and many must be scratching their heads as to why they would prefer claiming they were slow rather than mistaken... a clause in Hamilton's contract?

Call me cynical but I had to laugh when I heard Berrichello's race engineer, Jock Clear, say that "winning in a top car like Ferrari is one thing but in Brawn..." and calling him "..a class act". All I can think about is Rubens' hissy fit after the German GP...

As usual I welcome your comments.

Home

--> READ MORE

Gigantic man infiltrates F1 paddock...

... attempts to intimidate small man for wearing the same color shirt.






Home

--> READ MORE

Valencia Support Races: Porsche Supercup, GP2 and Formula BMW

Porsche Supercup results
GP2 and Formula BMW after the jump






GP2 Results


Results
--> READ MORE

Rumor roundup: Toyota next to quit Formula 1 and Kimi's points deal.

There's a rumor that Toyota has a sent a letter to its employees telling them to start looking for jobs. Toyota's future in F1 will be decided in November but the fact that Williams is already looking for an engine deal is a pretty good clue.

Contingent on him finding a ride elsewhere for 2010, Ferrari is rumored to be proposing a deal where they would pay Raikkonen a bonus for every point Ferrari scores rather than paying his severance all at once. However Ferrari is in a pickle, what if Massa is not the same when he returns?

Home

--> READ MORE

The last Time a Ferrari Qualified Last on the Grid was..

1958, Wolfgang Von Trips qualified 21st on the grid for the French Grand Prix.






Home

--> READ MORE

FTD vs DFL

For those who insist that a driver makes little difference in a Formula 1 car. You can grant Luca Badoer all the excuses you want but I can't remember the last time a Ferrari driver qualified Dead effin Last with a healthy car. But nobody can really blame Badoer, the fault is with those who put him in such a position. If it's true that Ferrari has given up on the season, why not use the opportunity to test some new viable talent? Why, because Ferrari is, as often heard, "where drivers go to finish their careers" rather than start them? Old thinking.

These two laps are not Hamilton's or Badoer's qualifying laps but they give the idea well enough. Hamilton was great as was Kovalainen in P2 with a slightly heavier car. Badoer didn't even look like he fit in the car properly, look how much his head gets pushed down under braking. Maybe since he's fuelled for one stop, tomorrow some safety car will play his way, as they say, from last place he can only improve.

And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

Whitewall Drifting

Those nutty Fins...


(hat tip to Robert Plafta!)






--> READ MORE

Open Door Policy.

Pos Driver        Team                      Time             Laps
 1. Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:39.404           33
 2. Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.178  +0.774   33
 3. Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes    (B)  1:40.209  +0.805   34
 4. Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:40.385  +0.981   39
 5. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:40.503  +1.099   35
 6. Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:40.596  +1.192   23
 7. Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  1:40.643  +1.239   34
 8. Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:40.681  +1.277   31
 9. Vettel        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:40.723  +1.319   33
10. Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:40.738  +1.334   31
11. Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:40.739  +1.335   39
12. Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:40.770  +1.366   32
13. Grosjean      Renault              (B)  1:40.787  +1.383   35
14. Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:40.956  +1.552   37
15. Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:40.985  +1.581   30
16. Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:41.156  +1.752   34
17. Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  1:41.350  +1.946   29
18. Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:42.017  +2.613   37
19. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:42.089  +2.685   34
20. Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:43.214  +3.810    3

All timing unofficial

Home

--> READ MORE

When the Stig went rallying

The real Stig that is... Blomqvist. Look at that beast, the car that changed rallying forever looks like it was designed by a steampunk Spongebob Squarepants. Water cooled brakes? that's pure truck technology right there.

And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

Dr. Mario Theissen to leave BMW?

Interesting rumor, that BMW's head of Motorsport may leave the company at the end of the season. This would be well in advance of plans and might be plausible in light of the reported internal conflict which led up to the German manufacturer's decision to abandon its Formula 1 challenge.

The first clue was a vague article on an Italian web site which claimed Theissen has been canned by BMW. I could not find any corroboration of that anywhere but today at the a press conference in Valencia, some more indications of possible future beyond BMW emerged.

Theissen confirmed at a press conference he is working closely with Peter Sauber in finding a solution to ensure a future for the Swiss based team and hinted that his own future at BMW is uncertain.

"The first priority is to secure the future of the team in my current role with the team and then after the season we can see what will happen to me,"

Theissen, who previously had revealed he only found out about BMW's decision to leave F1 the day before it was announced, was asked if he was disillusioned with BMW: "You best ask me this question again a few months from now. It all depends on what we are able to pull off."

Theissen is in charge of all BMW's motorsport, beyond just F1 so this would be quite a development but kudos to him for sticking by the Sauber team to the end or, perhaps, a new beginning.

Home

--> READ MORE

Inside Valencia

Stop it... no, it's not a Cinemax special! In this week's Inside Grand Prix, catch up with the news , watch Formula 1 drivers do silly stuff, check out the circuit...all the good stuff in one convenient location!





INFORMATION

Race Date: 23 Aug 2009
Number of Laps: 57
Circuit Length: 5.419 km
Race Distance: 308.883 km
Lap Record: 1:38.708 - F Massa (2008)

TIME SCHEDULE (LOCAL)

Fri 21 August 2009
Friday Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Friday Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30

Sat 22 August 2009
Saturday Practice 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00

Sun 23 August 2009
Race 14:00

WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIPS STANDINGS 10/17

1 Jenson Button British Brawn-Mercedes 70
2 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 51.5
3 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 47
4 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Brawn-Mercedes 44
5 Nico Rosberg German Williams-Toyota 25.5
6 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 22.5
7 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 22
8 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 19
9 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Ferrari 18
10 Timo Glock German Toyota 16
11 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 13
12 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes 9
13 Nick Heidfeld German BMW Sauber 6
14 Sebastien Buemi Swiss STR-Ferrari 3
15 Robert Kubica Polish BMW Sauber 2
16 Sebastien Bourdais French STR-Ferrari 2
17 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Force India-Mercedes 0
18 Kazuki Nakajima Japanese Williams-Toyota 0
19 Adrian Sutil German Force India-Mercedes 0
20 Nelsinho Piquet Brazilian Renault 0
21 Jaime Alguersuari Spanish STR-Ferrari 0

WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIPS STANDINGS 10/17

1 Brawn-Mercedes 114
2 RBR-Renault 98.5
3 Ferrari 40
4 Toyota 38.5
5 McLaren-Mercedes 28
6 Williams-Toyota 25.5
7 Renault 13
8 BMW Sauber 8
9 STR-Ferrari 5
10 Force India-Mercedes 0


--> READ MORE

Black Jack

Home

--> READ MORE

Sensational: New Porsche 997 GT3 RS MkII Video

Porsche gave us a treat today, no commentary needed...and it has a cloth pull handle for the door...I want one!
More pictures and info after the jump.

This is what Porsche is calling “the most sporting 911 yet”: the new GT3 RS.

The homologation special is fitted with the same 3.8-litre flat six as the GT3, but it has 444bhp instead of 429bhp, making it 35bhp pokier than the old RS.

The latest GT3 RS gets wider tracks at the front and rear (aided by extended front wheel arches) and a huge carbonfibre rear wing with aluminium supports.

The naturally aspirated engine, which has a specific output of more than 113bhp per litre, is mated to a low-ratio, short-shift six-speed manual gearbox.

A lithium ion starter battery will be available instead of the standard unit, reducing the kerb weight by 10kg.

Porsche is clearly aiming to make this one of the wildest 911s ever, with bright decals all over the bodywork.

The GT3 RS goes on sale in the US in 2010, priced from $132,800.

--> READ MORE

Yellow

by Jojo Cence




Picture of the Day

--> READ MORE

Inglorious Basterd

Finally, after all those years of racing obscurity, the day finally comes: you are going to be interviewed live on TV from inside your car, during a caution period! It's going to be brilliant, you are going to dazzle the audience with your coolness and sharp dry wit. For sure you are going to get some with one of the pit girls later.... what could possibly go wrong?

Meet BTCC BMW driver Jonathan Adam


Shop for KUMHO tires at Tire Rack.





Home

--> READ MORE

Wipeout!

Autoblog had this great sequence by Drew Phillips of a Ferrari 250 Testarossa losing its brakes at the corkscrew turn.
Ouch, right? I could not resist adding the appropriate music...





From Autoblog:

While many events during the Monterey car week simply involve parking classics on a golf course, we can appreciate the fact that many vintage car owners are willing to put their priceless automobiles on a track. While the Monterey Historics do everything they can to promote the safety of both cars and drivers, there is never a guarantee that accidents won't happen. We were reminded of that fact this weekend when a 1958 Ferrari 250 TR completely lost its brakes before Laguna Sega's Corkscrew, caught air while going through the gravel trap, and came to a stop only after hitting a tire wall.

This particular TR, owned by David Love, has been a regular at the Monterey Historics and other vintage events for more than 15 years, so it was especially tough to see it get banged up. From what we've heard, Love was shaken up but is okay, and the car can be repaired.

We happened to be at the Corkscrew, camera in hand, when the 250 TR went off course, and were able to capture Love's off-track excursion.

--> READ MORE

Porsche 962 Helmet Cam from Laguna Seca

Great Video, you are a sticker on Mark Hotchkis's helmet as he drives a Porsche 962 at the Rolex Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca this past week end.

Hotchkis won the GTP race from pole, the purple car was bought by his family new in 1986 and has stayed with with them ever since. Mark represents the third generation to drive this 962 after his father John Jr and his grandfather John Sr.


(grandtouringprototypes.com)





And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

Massa: "I was never afraid to die...

...because I don't remember anything at all about the accident" Felipe Massa said during a very lengthy interview with Galvão Bueno of Brazil's GloboTV. "... I never saw the spring, my last memory is the lap before the accident, next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital."

Massa is looking much better than when he was released from the hospital in Hungary but is still very much recuperating from his injuries which after the accident left him with only 65% vision in his left eye. Rest and relaxation, he tells, have helped him regain up to 80-85% capacity in that injured eye and he is right now hoping to return not for the Italian GP as many have speculated but for his home Brazilian GP, the penultimate of the season, in October.

Asked if he believes he was lucky and unlucky, Massa answers both. Unlucky because of his meeting with that spring, lucky because it could have been so much worse. He goes on to say that he was helped tremendously by all the good will and messages support even from those drivers he fights with on the track.

A very charming, well done interview, worth watching even if you have just a rudimentary understanding of Portuguese as I do.

.
(Globo.com)



Massa's accident video

--> READ MORE

Your race car is so fat that...

...it makes an M5 look skinny!

A subset of NASCAR was pounding around andturning right at Lime Rock last week, photos by Haifisch M3

more pictures after the jump-->

--> READ MORE

On the BMW menu: Fried Lizads with a side of Jake

It went from good to great for BMW this week end at Road America, 1-2 on the grid, 1-2 at the checker. Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen took the top spot followed by Muller and Milner.

Helped by a lucky full course yellow but fast enough to resist a late charge from the Corvette of Magnussen/O'Connel and newly "adjusted" Porsche Gt3 RSR of Bergmeister and Long, the RLR M3's were the class of the GT2 field today. I wonder if some of that ex-Formula 1 money has found it's way across the pond already.

Also announced today were new regulations for ALMS starting in 2010. The series will move to both simplify its classes to just 4 and encourage alternative fuels/"green" racing. Maybe now BMW's decision to quit F1 when all other manufacturers decided to let the the whole "green" fig leaf fall by the wayside makes more sense.

home

--> READ MORE

ALMS: BMW qualifies 1-2 at Road America.

In a year that has been short of good news for BMW, the team must be overjoyed with their first and second place qualifying positions at Road America today. Cherry on top, both RLR M3's were under the Road America GT2 lap record set by Ferrari in the past.

Joey Hand and Dirk Muller will be starting ahead of the Long/Bergmeister championship leading Porsche GT3 RSR, which this week end received 25 kg of extra ballast from IMSA and the two Corvette ZR1. Dunlop must have come up with some very special rubber for this week end.

In case you missed qualifying streaming live on SpeedTV.com, take a look at the clip from the webcast. No wonder people hate racing on broadcast tv, usually you can't see anything, the commentary is bland and boring, whenever something is about to happen, there is a commercial. Webcast like this are, in my opinion, the future of motorsport broadcasting. Not only would web delivery allow for any commercials to be placed without interrupting the race but a multi channel transmission similar to what is already available through various pay services in Europe for Formula 1 could be easily implemented.

I wonder how many of us would be willing to pay for such a service if it was well thought out and reliable? Sign me up. Until then, we'll have to watch the race on SpeedTV Sunday at 3PM et.

Provisional Grid for the "Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase featuring the American Le Mans Series (rolls right off your toungue, doesn't it?

--> READ MORE

ALMS at Road America, Live Qualifying Stream.

Starting at 4:05 PM ET you can watch live ALMS qualifying from Road America by following THIS LINK. <--- ON NOW

Free Practice saw the top seven cars in the less televised but more interesting GT2 class, all within 4/10th of a second, with the BMW M3 of Milner/Muller leading the pack from the Porsche RSR of Wolf Henzler and Jaime Melo's Ferrari. That's pretty close for a 4 mile long track so qualifying should be interesting to follow. Results from Free Practice 1 HERE

Live timing will be available HERE
and live radio by RadioLeMans, HERE



(photo AC/Axis of Oversteer)



And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

You are doing that wrong...

For your consideration, three spectacular hill climb fails.



Shop for KUMHO tires at Tire Rack.




Home
--> READ MORE

Happy Birthday Tracktards!

Two birthdays this week, Tall Baby Lo-Buk and The Dough. Happy birthday fellas, keep the shiny side up!









And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

Double Win for Team Axis at Lime Rock.

It was a clear 1-2 for Team Axis on Friday in the NASA GTS3 race with CG taking the top spot in his Cayman S and Stee coming second in his 3.4 Boxster. Saturday's race had CG in a dogfight for second place with a widebody e36 M3 and inherit the lead when the class leader crashed out of the race. In Spec e30, Justin was on the podium both days. Great job guys!

As promised here are some clips from the races:

This one is from Saturday's race from CG's Cayman S.

"The key five laps that made my race. After having seen the group leader Radical outbrake himself into the dirt at Big Bend decided to be nice and let him go by easily into West Bend. BIG mistake, as the black E36 of Yaskin slipped by when I had to lift more than I wanted for the Radical. Followed him patiently for 4 laps until the opportunity arrived to make the pass when we encountered traffic. That was the key pass for the class win..."



The second is from Friday's race and you are riding with Stee in the Boxster with the 3.4 Carrera motor. Both Stee and CG have a great start, check it out.






Home

--> READ MORE

Schumacher's injuries revealed.

The extent of the injuries sustained as a result of his fall while testing a Superbike in February were much more serious than I realized.

During a press conference Wednesday in Geneva, his doctor, Johannes Peil, revealed Schumacher had not only cracked his C7 vertebra but suffered a basal skull fracture which resulted in bone fragments damaging his vertebral artery. The C7 apparently is healed but the bone fragments injuries remain.
(Gazzetta dello Sport)

Home.

--> READ MORE

What's the DIFFerence?

As anyone who has ever driven behind me at a track in the past year or so can attest, my car always tended to, ahem, spew a touch of differential fluid.

This was not really BMW's fault, the differential I had in the car was not the "good for fuel economy but not so good for the track" 3.15 unit the MZ3 came with but an 80's vintage 3.46 unit from a 6 series and, to be honest, it looked like a piece raised from the Titanic when it was put in.

That's not inherently a bad thing, it's just that the unit probably had 200K miles on it. The gear ratio is a good one for the car and lap times at all the tracks I visited dropped considerably. However, heavy use soon took its toll and what started as nuisance became a smelly stream of burnt brown crap covering the back of my car and other people's windshields. Not good.


For a while I made the mistake of trying to cure the leak, the symptom of the problem, rather than trying to figure out why fluid was coming out in the first place. Mistake of course.

Earlier this year I went to Watkins Glen with Group52 and was forced to quit after only one session, the first time I ha a mechanical interrupt a track day in seven years. The differential got extremely loud and I was black flagged for the nasty stuff spewing from the back of my car.

It was silly to have worried about venting when in fact the differential was running so hot that the plastic speed sensor mechanism completely melted! You can see in the picture what remained of the part. The damage inside the case was not immediately obvious so we figured the problem was with the front bearing.

I limped home from the Glen with a a whine so loud it made telephone conversations impossible, not much choice but to get a rebuild. Dan Fitzgerald's Diffsonline.com was the most highly recommended and a few calls later I had a newly rebuilt unit on the way. The new differential in not just a stock factory LSD unit but a much more specialized ramped variable lock build. So what's the difference?



This past week end most of the Axis was at Lime Rock with NASA and I was most curious to find out how the new differential compared. It had been quite a while since I had driven at the Connecticut club but the last time I was there my best lap times were in the mid 1:02 range, this past Saturday my best was a 1:00.7. It was not all about the differential of course, the track has been repaved, tires might be different, I got better, lots of factors but car did behave in a different manner.

The first thing I noticed was more stability under threshold braking with the rear feeling much sell squirrelly. The next sensation is that mid-corner the car does not want to oversteer as much when lifting. This surprised me, I would have thought the opposite. I used more aggressive lifts or left foot braking to rotate the car in Big Bend, that worked.

The best part though was corner exit, way more thrust and much more control, very nice.

You can find some video clips after the jump. Next up we'll have some much more exciting racing footage from Lime Rock so stay tuned.

--> READ MORE

Schumacher Cancels Comeback!

Michael Schumacher issued the following statement on his web site:

"Yesterday evening, I had to inform Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali that unfortunately I'm not able to step in for Felipe. I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible, however, much to my regret it didn't work out. Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck which occurred after the private F1-day in Mugello, even if medically or therapeutically we tried everything possible.

The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike-accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe. That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula 1 yet. This are the clear results of the examinations we did on the course of the past two weeks and the final examination yesterday afternoon. As there were no improvements after the day in Mugello, I decided at short notice on Sunday to do that thorough examination already yesterday.

I am disappointed to the core. I am awfully sorry for the guys of Ferrari and for all the fans which crossed fingers for me. I can only repeat that I tried everything that was within my power. All I can do now is to keep my fingers crossed for the whole team for the coming races."

Conspiracies theorists must already hard at work and inexplicably it will be Luca Badoer who will take Massa's seat at the European GP in Valencia. I'm not sure how F1 will fare for the rest of this season. More comments and reactions after the jump.

Thing is, rumors of the possibility of his neck injuries from the Superbike accident (photos HERE) have been persistent since the announcement of his return but it's inevitable that many will now wonder if this has to do with his realization that he just not able to be competitive, maybe he could not get his weight down enough (remember this year even the diminutive current F1 drivers have been on diets). Many questions will probably never be answered.

One question I and many Ferrari fans will have is why Badoer? Sure he has done a tremendous job testing with the team and he must be quite a talented driver but as a racer, let's be frank, he's been nowhere. Then why not use the opportunity to a young hungry driver, perhaps one like 18 year old Mirko Bortolotti who last winter broke the Fiorano lap record?
A huge missed opportunity by Ferrari, an opportunity a young, forward looking team like say, Red Bull, would not have missed.

Some Reactions:

Norbert Haug (Mercedes) "Health comes first. It's a big disappointment for all those who rejoiced at the news of Michael's return but health is a priority there is no doubt about it. It was clear from the beginning that his return was dependent on the medical results"

Ralf Schumacher: "This is obviously very, very sad. But when Michael and the doctors decide it is the only right decision. The risk, if something happens, it would surely have been too large. With fractures, especially in the area of cervical vertebrae is no joke.."

Alex Zanardi: " His decision to come back seemed to be one take with the heart first and the brain later, the one to renounce taken more with the brain than with the heart"

Willi Weber (manager) "It is a great pity. I was very pleased with the comeback, as we all. But health comes first. Michael was totally fit, that would not have been a problem. But after the first test rounds, there were no improvements in the area of neck muscles. He could, if one third of the normal training Coucil in this field study. The motorcycle accident in February was the worst accident, in which Michael had his motorsport career."

Lewis Hamilton "I was pleased about the possibility of Michael's return to Formula 1. He is one of the greatest competitors - a legend - and it would be an honor and a privilege to have raced against him"

Adrian Sutil "Very sad for all the fans and also for the Formula 1 The euphoria and anticipation was great and made us all happy for him. "

Jochen Mass "I'm not unhappy about it. Because the risk that he will lose from this story, was relatively large. I am relieved that has not happened.

Luca di Montezemolo "I am very unhappy that a problem means that Michael cannot return to racing, In the past few days, I could appreciate his great efforts and extraordinary motivation which had spread through the team and fans around the world. No doubt his return would have been good for Formula 1 and I am sure it would have seen him fighting for wins again.

(comments via Bild and Gazzetta dello Sport)
--> READ MORE

Schumacher in Space...

Say what you will about Michael Schumacher's return but one thing is certain, it's good for business.

While Schumacher is busy with his physical conditioning and filming new product ads, promoters everywhere are rushing to their local places of worship and lighting candles in his name.

It's a made for media story, in the middle of a summer break, and the story will be milked for all its worth: How much is Schumi making? Will he loose his beer belly? How's his neck? How about that $17000 titanium reinforced helmet? Hey did you hear he's going into space?....What?

Yeah, as far as I can tell this story comes from a gulf publication called Arabian Business. There is no confirmation from anyone, indeed there is no direct quote about Schumacher even from Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic "space tourism" tour company but the story was picked up around the world. I'm guessing that even if true, it's not going to be the seven time champion who will pony up the $200,000 for the three hour trip.

Maybe the fact that an investment company out of Abu Dhabi bought a large stake of Virgin Galactic recently has something to do with how this story was born... you think?

And here is the rest of it.

--> READ MORE

What the....???

Yes it's a Corvette...but this one really cracked me up...





Bayville NY, Tuesday Night Car show.







Home

--> READ MORE